Scars from a Ska band?
Less than Jake were a pleasant surprise at this year's Leeds festival. A lot of the crowd had clearly been awaiting their arrival. Apparently, the rather annoying barrier placed across front of the main stage was due to Less Than Jake's performance at the previous Leeds, resulting in some very large circle pits. After experiencing their performance first hand this year, I can understand why.
Foolishly, I decided to write my notes towards the front of the crowd. Big mistake! At no point did the crowd stop jumping, diving and moshing. Less Than Jake's passion for their playing came across in a big way. Although they did talk a little between songs, they didn't labour the point, insult the crowd or let it get in the way of everyone having a good time. After successfully convincing the entire crowd to perform a Mexican wave, Less Than Jake moved into their traditional "Chicken Fight" with plenty of people upon other people's shoulders. The crowd clearly loved taking part and all credit to Less Than Jake for managing to gauge the crowd really well.
The band didn't seem to be shy of joining in the weird antics with plenty of juggling of various items on stage for some reason. At no point did the intensity drop. By the time "Ghost of You" came around, the crowd was bouncing more than a king-size jelly trifle on Paris Hilton's hotel room bed. As everyone walked off the stage, the looks on their faces were a mixture of muscular pain and sheer pleasure. Less Than Jake sounded good, played extremely well and the crowd loved it.